He was charged with attempted aggravated murder, four counts of forgery, insurance fraud, and — this one took longer and mattered more than any of the others put together — a count relating to the corporate money, which is what eventually brought in a second set of prosecutors and made the whole thing federal in part.

Because the audit found it.

Six point one million dollars, over about three years, out of client escrow and investor capital, through two entities, covering a gambling position that had started in 2020 and had never once been reduced.

That is why he did it.

Not for nine point four million.

He did it for six point one, and the nine point four was simply the only instrument available to a man with a wife, a house he could not touch, and a hole he could not fill.

I found that harder than the affair by an enormous margin.